Desperate, in need of guidance

Posted by thebroken @thebroken, Mar 6, 2019

I'll try to make a very long and complicated story short. I've been dealing with dizziness, nausea, and fatigue for about 2 years. Went to my PCP a couple of times but he basically said get more rest. Since then, I have been under increasing stress and started having other symptoms like heart palpitations, tingling hands, brain fog. Again Doc said nothing is wrong, blood tests came back normal. However, I started going to specialists, one after another looking for answers. In that time, a friend my same age (44 yrs) passed away from stomach cancer. I think this may have sent me into an anxiety tailspin. The more specialist I went to see them more the anxiety ramped up. I was waiting for test results, afraid of the answers, not getting answers, rinse and repeat. At one point I was having multiple panic attacks a day.

I feel like I may have broken something in my endocrine or autonomic nervous system (??) because now I have something very similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I cannot be active for more than a few hours without "crashing." Also if I attempt any exercise I crash very hard. This "crash" feels very unusual and hard to describe. Like someone pulls a drain plug on my body and all energy is drained. I also get a warm sensation and feels like my body is vibrating. My chest gets tight and heavy, my breathing gets shallow and labored. It's almost like my body releases some chemical or hormone.

In addition, this "crash" feeling will come over me at about 5 am every morning and wakes me up. The same warm sensation, body vibrations, heart beating hard (not fast just hard). Almost like an adrenaline dump for no reason.

My most recent doctor visit was to an endocrinologist who basically said she didn't want to run any tests because I've already had most test run (see below) and offered no help whatsoever.

The only thing I can point to is the prolonged intense stress and anxiety along with the panic attacks. Mixed with a couple of rounds of antibiotics and prednisone for a sinus infection (not sure if it's relevant). It broke something in me and I can't figure out what or how to fix it. All the doctors can't find anything wrong. Please help if you can. If not, please pray for me because I am falling into a very dark and desperate place.

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Recent Bloodwork:
• 02-2019 - Lyme Disease IgG/IgM, IMMUNOBLOT, CORTISOL (random), LDL & VDL, Lipid Panel, Free & Total Testosterone, CBC w/ auto diff with platelets.
o FLAGS: Total Cholesterol 216 mg/dl, LDL 142 mg/dl

• 01-2019 - Hepatitis Panel, HIV Panel, RPR (Syphilis), Vitamin B1, GAD-65 Antibody, Creatine, Antinuclear Antibodies Direct, Sedimentation Rate-Westergren, Thyroglobulin Antibody, Thyroid Peroxidase Ab.
o All in normal ranges

• 11-2018: - Testosterone, Comprehensive metabolic 2000 panel, Thyrotropin, Cobalamin (Vitamin B12), CBC W Auto Differential panel, 25-Hydroxyvitamin D2+25-Hydroxyvitamin D3
o FLAGS: Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy 22.5 (range 30-100), Testosterone 323.78 Borderline Low, Alkaline Phosphatase 40 (range 45-117), AST 6 (range 15-37)

• 08-2018 – Bilirubin Direct, THS, Free T4, CBC Panel, Lipid Panel, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
o FLAGS: Bilirubin Direct 0.4 (range 0.0 – 0.3mg/dl), LDL Cholesterol, 114 (range 0-99 mg/dl), Bilirubin Total 1.6 (range 0.3 – 1.2mg/dl), Alkaline Phosphatase 43 (range 46-116 u/l)

• 12-2017 - Celiac Disease Comprehensive, CBC w/ Differential/Platelet, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Amylase Serum, Lipase Serum
o FLAGS: Glucose 46 (range 65-99 mg/dl) have since monitored glucose and has never been low or high.

Other Test:
MRI Brain and EEG, CT Brain and Sinus, CT Abdomen, Endoscopy and Colonoscopy, VNG Test, Ophthalmology Tests, ECG Stress Test

The only red flags were from the VNG test showing some mild up beating nystagmus during Dix-Hallpike maneuver. Also, other Positional Test showed the same nystagmus. Low velocity right beating nystagmus present but “not at a clinically significant level.” The ENT doctor concluded this was likely a "central finding, which is how I ended up at a neurologist."

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Diabetes & Endocrine System Support Group.

MGMolly | @Erinmfs | Mar 6, 2019

Hi,

I had similar issues, and I finally received a diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. I was a big strenuous exercisor, and the disease would flare

See a neurologist, ask for autoimmune disease testing.

dorisena | @dorisena | Mar 6, 2019

I am not a doctor and only had one episode of panic attack in my life. I studied about it and decided I would not do that anymore. So I don't want to advise you. I want to tell you the story of my older sister who died last year at the age of 94 or so. She lived with daily panic attacks for many years and was estranged from most of the family, living alone until she was no longer able to care for herself at the end. She would go to the emergency room with high blood pressure so many times that the hospital told her to quit coming and see her psychiatrist and follow the instructions. She did not take meds as prescribed. Because she was a careful eater, she was healthy for many years. She became socially incapable and a recluse. She had a person to help in her care but was fussy about that issue. I know that her childhood was traumatic and she got off to a bad start. She did not get along with her stepmother and it was the fault of both of them, in my opinion. She was a very talented woman and compulsive about housekeeping and order, things that made you suspect obsessive compulsive disorder. This story tells me that you might benefit from concentrating on mental health care and instruction because I know that learning effective methods of coping and behavior changes, sometimes with medication, can alleviate or eliminate panic attacks. I don't know how to cure physical ailments so you are wise to have had many tests. I believe people can be healed. It takes the most effective treatment, however.